


You Must Be Thrilled

by ryan_the_baby_idiot



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, I guess???, M/M, Oneshot, Sad, Weird ass au, and lets enjolras be the sad one, because you know what? grantaire deserves a break, enjolras is ah, for once, in which i attempt to make a scenario that fits the canon, instead of grantaire, this fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-13
Updated: 2019-03-13
Packaged: 2019-11-16 11:32:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18093488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ryan_the_baby_idiot/pseuds/ryan_the_baby_idiot
Summary: Instead of laying his life down, Grantaire (somehow) managed to save Enjolras from his execution. Now, they're out in another small village, a temporary home they'll share until they either find a new life and livelihood or deem Paris safe enough to return to. But there'll always be complications along the way, won't there?(quick oneshot I wrote literally in the middle of the night)





	You Must Be Thrilled

The morning after. 

The morning after the blood, and the fighting. Death upon death that had unfolded in front of them. In front of them both. But they, oh, they had escaped. By some twist of fate, these two now reside in this small house. Temporarily, of course.

For the first time he could remember, Grantaire woke up before Enjolras. 

The house felt foreign and cold, but Grantaire forced himself to shake off the feeling. Surely, he wouldn't be experiencing the worst of the emotional aftereffects. No. There was no time for his regrets, no time for misery. Not yet, anyhow. Instead, he made coffee. It took some time, especially to find adequate cups, but eventually he had prepared enough for the both of them. 

Enjolras appeared at the top of the stairs. 

His hair looked like it never had before. Untied and tangled, it fell down his back in knotted clumps. Grantaire had never seen him look like this. He was practically disheveled. Even at the barricade, lying on the ground, awaiting the gunshot that would mean his death, he had not looked quite like this. Then, he'd been bloodied and fatigued, hand pressed to the ground to maintain balance. But his eyes stayed the same bright blue, and he kept a dignity about him. Had he not been pulled away, he certainly would have maintained an empty eye contact with the guard until he could no longer see. 

Now, his eyes were nearly gray. Pointed towards the ground, that dignity was gone. Was this Enjolras? Was this the same man? Neither Grantaire nor Enjolras himself was sure. 

"Morning." Grantaire managed, pushing the second cup a few inches across the table to signify who it was for. Enjolras responded silently, walking over to the table and picking up the cup. He stared into it a moment before bringing it to his lips. He drank nearly all of it in one go. 

Enjolras still refused eye contact. "Mm." Silence fell across the room, neither having much to say. Not enough time had passed to justify talking of anything but the previous day's events, but neither one of them were particularly enthusiastic about having a heart-to-heart about that of all subjects. 

A smile teased Enjolras's lips. Grantaire watched him, carefully, not sure whether to be confused or concerned. He settled on an uneasy blend of the two. 

"Haha..." Enjolras sharply sucked air between his teeth, cutting off the laugh. If you could call it a laugh. "You must be thrilled, huh?" 

"Thrilled...?" 

"You were right, oh cynic," he continued, still grinning, still gritting his teeth. "the revolution failed. Everything went just as you said. So you must be really happy with this situation, right? I'm glad someone is." 

Is this Enjolras? Hard to say. Yes, sure, this is the same person that used to be Enjolras, but now, well, who is he now? Is he, truly, the same person...? "Well, I mean..." 

"You don't have to respond, I already know what you think,  _Grantaire._ " 

"No, I... Well, I am happy that you're alive. I'm happy your life isn't in danger anymore. I'm happy we're together." 

Enjolras loosened his jaw, only slightly. "You mean you're happy you made it, right? Happy you made it out of the mess  _I_ caused?" 

"If that's what I meant, that's what I would have said." 

"So you're not happy to be here? You're not happy you're alive? If you could, you'd go back there and die with the rest of them? Your actions speak differently than your words, Grantaire. I seem to remember you running like hell." 

"I ran like hell while gripping your blood soaked wrist. I ran like hell dragging you along behind me, you, who couldn't seem to speak aloud. You, who was about to be  _executed!_ " He slammed the cup down on the table and stood, nearly matching Enjolras's height but falling just a couple inches short. "I am here because of  _you_ and  _you_ alone! You heard what I said to you, I was ready to die on that barricade, and not for your cause, you know how I felt about that, but for mine!" 

"Your... cause?" 

" _Yes,_ Enjolras." Grantaire sat back down slowly, sighing and shaking his head a bit in a blind attempt to calm himself. It worked well enough. "As I was saying. I'm happy you're alive and out of harm's way... oh, yes. But I'm not particularly  _thrilled_ by the deaths of all my friends. In case you thought I felt some sort of satisfaction from that. I do not." 

Enjolras looked away. He knew that already. "Yeah. Yeah, I know." Finally, he sat down, suddenly weakened by both his outburst and Grantaire's. "Oh, god." He muttered, almost inaudibly. "Oh,  _god,_ Grantaire! They're all dead at the barricade!" He stood again, quickly turning away and pacing erratically around the room. "And the rebellion  _failed,_ too...! Did they really die in vain like that...?" Finally, he turned to face Grantaire, revealing the tears streaking his face. Where the tears fell, he began to look like himself again.

"I know, Enjolras." Grantaire's heart hurt for him. How terrible it must be to have not only lost so many people, but to have it be at the fault of a plan you created? A plan you had so much faith in? He stood, slowly and methodically, as if attempting not to scare Enjolras, and began to approach him. 

"No, stay away from me." Enjolras's voice began to break. "I almost got you killed, too." But Grantaire grabbed him without even bothering to listen to the objections. Enjolras's breath dissipated in a startled noise he had no control over. 

"It's  _okay._ " Enjolras was frozen, listening. "You... had no ill intentions. And, one day, maybe... with more people, more age, more wisdom... you can lead a successful revolution. You're still Enjolras, right? If anything, do it for me. I couldn't bear to see you lose that passion. Right? You're still you. It's okay. Everything will be okay."

They stayed that way for far too long, both of them refusing to move an inch. Finally, Enjolras broke away, blue eyes glittering with renewed strength. "Okay." He announced. "It'll be okay." 

"Well, you bounce back quick. Hey, if you're not totally fine immediately, that's... fine, you know that, right? You can take time..." 

"Oh, believe me, I'll need that time. All that's changed right now is..." He lead Grantaire over to the table where they'd been sitting. "...I... have the ability to make it through that time." 

"I suppose." 

"Can I ask you something?" 

Grantaire took a gulp of the coffee. It'd cooled down far too much to be any good, but the caffeine was simply vital. "Go for it." 

"How're you able to be a cynic, a skeptic, and then... so...  _inspiring,_ it's just so unlike you to have any hope or... belief in anything." 

He paused, considering his words. "Well, I already told you I believe in one thing. You." Enjolras quickly looked away, as if attempting to conceal his face. "And as for the 'becoming inspiring' thing... I dunno, it's not that difficult when someone you admire is standing in front of you and broken." 

"Admire?" 

"Er, love." 

"Love?" 

"Sure!" He exclaimed, "Focus on that, of all things!" 

"Hm." Enjolras smiled softly, a genuine smile this time. Grantaire didn't think he could remember seeing his face look so soft, and sweet. "Hey. You should try caring about things more. You believed in me, right? Don't think I didn't notice the look in your eye as you pulled me away. It's the same look I get when I talk about..." He looked down, a shadow falling over his features. "...You know. Revolution. Anyway it... suits you." 

Grantaire shook his head. "No, Enjolras. You know I'm a skeptic and a cynic to my core. We're simply different in this way." 

"But you..." 

"Don't say it, I'm warning you." 

"But I... don't want to have passion alone, not here, not now. Then I had all the Les Amis behind me. Now I don't. It always infuriated me that I couldn't get you on board with the rest of us, but don't you see? Now you're all I have, please... Care about things with me." 

"I care about you." 

"That's good enough, fine!" Enjolras leaned forward onto the table, bringing himself closer to Grantaire. 

Grantaire held his ground, unmoving. "Glad we agree for once." 

"Hey, you just agreed to be a partner with the person you love!" Enjolras grinned as he brought himself even closer, now precariously leaning over the table. He resisted the urge to laugh at the reaction Grantaire was failing to hide. "You must be thrilled right now." 

"You know what? Fine. I am absolutely thrilled right now."


End file.
